65

He seemed to be signing his name, and instead of ink, the letters shone with light. When he dropped the pen, the writing shimmered for a moment and went out. The writing was gone, and the door had returned to normal. But there was a loud clank of a lock turning and the door opened slowly inward. When the doors pushed aside enough, Grant led Les inside a great round chamber with high stained glass windows. Around the perimeter of the room stood an outlining of chairs looking into the room over long tables. There were at least 50 chairs, Les thought, some of them were occupied. Some persons stood around the room conversing. All of them stopped and looked as Grant and Les entered. The silence was thick. Les caught her breath. After a moment, and without any beckoning, those about the room turned and went to sit in the chairs. Nearly half the seat were filled when all the movement ceased. Les had never seen some of these creatures before, for not all those seated appeared human. She peered Talon having sat in a seat to her far right in the room, but even she was not the strangest of the members of the order present before her.